Chapter 25: Mei Hu

On the tenth day upon arrival at Huaguo Mountain, Immortal Zhenyuan grew curious about a demon.

Every day, punctually, the demon appeared by the lake ten miles away, and stood there for an hour.

Today was no different; only after the demon's legs became sore did she shift her gaze from the lake's surface.

"No matter how many times I look, I am truly too beautiful."

She sighed.

"Eminent Brother…"

Upon hearing this, Immortal Zhenyuan finally couldn't help but pause his work.

He asked Sun Wukong, "Does that Mei Hu have a problem with her brain?"

"No."

Sun Wukong, who was carving Boundary Runes on the ground, said: "That's one of our Mei Hus from Huaguo Mountain, naturally born with love for beauty."

"That's not your ordinary love for beauty."

Immortal Zhenyuan opined, the Mei Hu could stare at her reflection in the lake for an hour without moving—a bit too exaggerated. He liked looking at himself in the mirror too, but after ten minutes, he'd get sick of it.

"Let me see how beautiful she is!"

Immortal Zhenyuan cast a spell and clearly saw the appearance of the Mei Hu ten miles away.

"She's just so-so..."

At first glance, the Mei Hu, though beautiful, was not different from celestial fairies in the heavens; she did not draw Immortal Zhenyuan's attention.

But upon closer inspection, Immortal Zhenyuan was taken aback.

The Mei Hu, from head to toe, in every move and gesture, exuded an enchanting charm—she was more eye-catching than any fairy, even surpassing Chang'e in heaven.

This so-called charm is the quality that attracts the opposite sex.

Any man who sees her would become restless, yearning to embrace her in his arms.

"This fox will inevitably bring trouble in the future."

Immortal Zhenyuan calculated with his fingers and understood the Mei Hu's danger.

Her enchanting nature, too intense, was ineffective on great immortals like Zhen Yuanzi and Sun Wukong, but to ordinary demons, and even Independent Immortals, it was fatal, not to mention to mortals.

Should she leave Huaguo Mountain, she would surely become an object of contention.

Immortal Zhenyuan continued to divine deeper and prefigured that the Mei Hu, despite possessing peerless enchantment, lacked the strength to protect herself, and her death was imminent.

Yet, he didn't see the thread of death on her.

"That's strange."

Immortal Zhenyuan shifted to another finger to calculate and then understood.

"So it is you, Eminent Brother, who's protecting her."

Immortal Zhenyuan smiled at Sun Wukong: "By binding her here, you've also protected her."

Sun Wukong nodded, the Mei Hu had a good nature, and he ought to take care of her.

"Just even so..."

Immortal Zhenyuan reminded: "Huaguo Mountain is not completely safe. That Mei Hu's charm will sooner or later bring misfortune; it might be better to let her go early."

Sun Wukong shook his head: "If she leaves, a third of Huaguo Mountain's Demon Kings would follow."

That was the terror of this Mei Hu; nearly all Demon Kings in Huaguo Mountain revolved around her, scheming to curry her favor.

Although Sun Wukong did not prevent the Demon Kings from leaving, there was no reason to let a female demon entice them away.

Moreover, as long as the Mei Hu did not leave on her own initiative, Sun Wukong wouldn't drive her away.

Immortal Zhenyuan furrowed his brows: "You should think of a way to make her cause less trouble."

Sun Wukong replied with a smile: "I am already doing so."

He finished inscribing the runes, stood up, and with a snap of his fingers, the Mei Hu ten miles away involuntarily flew towards them.

Immortal Zhenyuan curiously watched as the Mei Hu fell to the ground, clutching her bottom and wailing.

"Great King, could you not treat me with such methods?"

The Mei Hu got up and asked Sun Wukong.

Upon a closer look, her charm was even more astonishing—especially her fox ears and tail in her Transformation State, which made men especially restless.

Immortal Zhenyuan felt a stir in his heart; the Mei Hu was angry, but her demon aura was very pure, indicating she had not done evil deeds.

An affection arose within him.

"What is your name?"

Immortal Zhenyuan asked.

Sun Wukong shook his head: "She doesn't have a name."

The demons of Huaguo Mountain are different from those in the outside world; most of them don't have names.

"I have a name."

The fox demon retorted.

Sun Wukong was slightly taken aback: "Did you give yourself one?"

"Of course."

The fox demon said to Immortal Zhen Yuan, "I'm called Daji."

Sun Wukong sighed: "Where did you hear this name?"

The fox demon looked at him proudly: "Naturally, the little demons told me!"

"Great King, you're really stingy. Why didn't you want The 'Investiture of the Gods' to be known to me?"

The fox demon asked.

This fox demon liked to hear stories, and Wukong didn't want her to know about Su Daji's story, which is why he forbade the little demons from telling her about The 'Investiture of the Gods'.

But to his surprise, the fox demon got the information through her own charm.

"Speaking of which, Great King."

The fox demon said to Sun Wukong: "You forbade me from leaving the forest, on the condition that you tell me some stories every year. You haven't told me this year's yet!"

Sun Wukong nodded: "I called you over for this reason."

He plucked out one of his hairs and transformed into a monkey spirit to join the fox demon.

The fox demon, leading the monkey spirit, happily walked away.

"What are you going to tell her?"

Immortal Zhen Yuan watched as the monkey spirit and the fox demon disappeared into the forest.

"Some folk tales."

Sun Wukong replied.

The stories that the monkey spirit told to the fox demon were some ancient strange tales and some in line with the fox demon's tastes... spiritual chicken soup.

Thinking about the time, that chicken soup should almost be fermenting.

Ten days later, the monkey spirit returned to Sun Wukong's side.

"It's a success, she has great talent."

Sun Wukong took back his hair and suddenly smiled: "I didn't misjudge her."

Immortal Zhen Yuan felt puzzled, not knowing what Sun Wukong had done.

As the two continued to study the barrier, it was not until one day when two Demon Kings passed through the forest that Immortal Zhen Yuan learned about Sun Wukong's achievement from their conversation.

"Yesterday, I brought flowers for Mei Hu, but then I saw her dressed in black clothes, covering her right hand, walking alone in the rain and screaming in pain."

"Ah, you saw that too?"

The two Demon Kings seemed quite surprised: "Did you hear what she was screaming?"

"Something about a Kirin Arm..."

"I thought I heard it wrong."

The two Demon Kings stopped, looking puzzled.

"For some reason, seeing that scene, I suddenly didn't feel like giving flowers anymore."

"Me too..."

From a distance, Immortal Zhen Yuan pricked up his ears, and after listening to the Demon Kings' conversation, he couldn't help but imagine such a scene.

The charm of that fox demon seemed to have disappeared.

"What exactly did you do, younger brother?"

Immortal Zhen Yuan was both shocked and delighted. What kind of cultivation technique was this, capable of completely erasing a person's charm?

He quickly grabbed Sun Wukong to inquire.

Sun Wukong had no choice but to say: "I changed her perception of beauty."

He had infused the fox demon with some one-sided future world aesthetic perceptions.

The so-called temperament can be easily changed.

After all, charm is a part of temperament.

Change clothes into something strange, then change behaviors and manners, and no matter how naturally charming you are, it will fade away.

However, this method could only be used on that self-loving and exceptionally aesthetic fox demon.